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Everything You Need To Know About Stephen King’s Cinematic Universe

There are few authors as prolific as Stephen King, and even fewer with such an extensive track record of film adaptations of their work. Since his first short story was sold to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967, King has published 56 novels and 200 short stories. There have been 66 film adaptations of those tales – 5 of which are due to be released in 2017 alone - and 2 of these are truly grabbing the attention right now: The Dark Tower and It.

The Man In Black (The Stand, 11.22.63, The Dark Tower)

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The character that appears in The Dark Tower, known as The Man In Black, is actually a Stephen King character that goes by many names. Perhaps most famously, he uses the alias Randall Flagg – and it’s under this guise that he appeared as the protagonist in the television adaptation of The Stand. The four episode miniseries aired in 1994, directed by Mike Garris, and with a script written by Stephen King himself. Actor Jamey Sheridan portrayed the character in the project, which saw Flagg wreak havoc through the aftermath of an apocalyptic flu outbreak. He’s presented as the evil, demonic counterpart to Ruby Dee’s spiritual leader, Mother Abagail, and the two exert competing psychic influence over survivors in an attempt to rebuild society in either democratic or autocratic terms.

In the 2016 television adaptation of 11.22.63, created by Bridget Carpenter, a teacher travels back in time to 1960 for the purpose of preventing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy three years later. The series deals largely with the consequences of such actions, but many references to other Stephen King stories – such as The Shining and The Stand – are scattered throughout the series. One of the last of these details occurs in the final episode, with a cyclist thought to be The Man in Black seen moving through crowds in Dallas, Texas in the moments before the President’s murder.

In The Dark Tower source material, The Man In Black is a supernaturally gifted, demonic wizard, who conspires with The Crimson King to capture the Tower. The Crimson King is the embodiment of all evil, and presides over the Outer Dark. The Crimson King is also an Uncle of the hero of The Dark Tower stories, Roland Deschain. Flagg, or The Man In Black, is seen to have been influential in the destiny of Roland Deschain throughout his life, as he developed into a Gunslinger – the order of peacekeepers and diplomats in The Dark Tower stories.